Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Will Levis Injured, Leaves Practice Early, Malik Willis Advantage & Thursday Practice Notes

Episode Date: August 17, 2023

Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Will Levis left practice early and is now in doubt for Saturday's preseason game. This has implication for Levis, the team now and in the future and Malik Willis. Tyler dives into the fallout. Finally, go over Thursday's practice notes. The Titans defense balls out while the offense has bright moments.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!NutrafolTake the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to Nutrafol.com/men and enter the promo code LOCKEDONMLB. Underdog FantasyThis episode is sponsored by Underdog Fantasy! Sign up HERE with the promo code LOCKEDON to get your first deposit DOUBLED up to $100.Must be 18+ (19+ in Alabama and Nebraska, 21+ in Massachusetts and Arizona) and present in a state where Underdog Fantasy operates. Terms apply. Concerned with your play? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit www dot ncpgambling.org; In Arizona call 1-800-NEXT-STEP; in New York, Call 1-877-8-HOPENY; in Tennessee, call 1-800-889-9789eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit. eBay Motors dot com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Right now, when you bet on a Super Bowl Winner, you can GET BONUS BETS EVERY TIME THEY WIN IN THE REGULAR SEASON! FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Titans rookie quarterback Will Levis was injured at practice on Thursday and now is uncertain to play in Saturday's preseason game. I'm going to break it all down on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans.

More injury news for the Tennessee Titans at joint practices on Thursday. Rookie quarterback Will Levis left practice early and is now uncertain for Saturday's game. I'm going to dive into what that news means. Also, the Titans defense was awesome. Both days of joint practices. I'm going to break down some of the highlights from Thursday. And then DeAndre Hopkins had an awesome touchdown catch from Ryan Tannehill. Punted the ball in the stands. We're going to talk about the offense on today's show as well.

Before we get into all of it, though, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com slash LockedOnNFL. That's LinkedIn.com slash LockedOnNFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. I want to thank you guys as well for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all apps,

all year long, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. Shout out to my everydayers out there. Tomorrow, I got a game preview for you guys coming out on Friday night on YouTube. It'll be out on the podcast feed as well. And then Saturday, I'll be going live immediately in the Bleacher Report app, doing a little bit of a cross over here with Bleacher Report. I'm going to be live in the Bleacher Report app Saturday after the game and then immediately be on here as well on the YouTube channel and on the podcast. So a lot of content

coming your way. Throw a thumbs up on the video right YouTube channel and on the podcast. So a lot of content coming your way. Throw a thumbs up on the video right now. Help support the channel. Show is always free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button. But with that being said, do want to dive into today's news. And unfortunately, it's more injury news for the Titans. After practice on Thursday, Mike Vrabel spoke with the media and he told Jim Wyatt from TennesseeTitans.com

that the Titans took Will Levis into the building at the end of practice. Mike Vrabel, according to Sam Phelan, said, quote, we'll see where he's at for the game on Saturday. Paul Kaharski reported that it was a lower body injury for Will Levis. That's all we know at this time. But either way, Will Levis' appearance in Saturday's game is in jeopardy now because of this injury. And that has, in my opinion, insane ripple effects. Because not only are there the short-term impacts of the Titans wanting to figure out who their backup quarterback is in 2023, those guys battling it out. Not only that, we talk about this quarterback battle, but both of these guys are young quarterbacks who need to continue to get better.

So it's not just about the competition that they're in. It's about their own individual growth. We'll call it their own individual character arts. You know what I mean? Both of these guys need reps, not just to figure out who's better between them, but so both of them can get better. And ultimately, that's what's best for the Tennessee Titans. So if Levis is unable to play, that's bad in the short term, obviously, where Will Levis is not getting better. And as a rookie, anytime that you miss an opportunity to get snaps, it's going to hurt you. It's not like a veteran who's comfortable,

who can maybe miss some plays and still do their thing. Levis is still trying to adjust to the game, learn the playbook, learn his teammates, all of that. So if this injury prevents Will Levis from playing, it's going to stunt his own personal growth, and it's going to stunt the Titans from being able to figure out who the best backup quarterback should be. So it's hurtful in multiple ways.

And keep this in mind. If things go well for the Titans this year, if things go the way that they want, then that means that Will Levis and Malik Willis will never see the field this year. It would be Ryan Tannehill as the starter the entire time. If that happens, then that means this is the last opportunity this preseason, these three games. This is the last opportunity for the Titans

to look at Will Levis and Malik Willis in live game action before they maybe next year have to decide which one is going to be the starting quarterback. You know, you want to get as much evidence. You want to get as much tape as possible on both these guys, not only to help make decisions now and in the future, but also for them to grow as quarterbacks individually. So this would just be a disappointing thing, and let's call it what it is. Watching these two battle it out in the preseason has been incredibly exciting. It has been the number one hottest topic that we've talked about that everyone is talking about all the time has been these quarterbacks in training camp and in the preseason. If you take Levis out of that equation,

I'm very excited to watch Malik Willis. I can't wait to watch Malik Willis get an entire, you know, full game of action. But the reality is the competition between the two is what made this so exciting. I'm excited to watch Malik Willis on its own, but you add in another young quarterback that we get to dissect

and see how they do against each other. It's made the preseason incredibly fun. And it was going to make the preseason incredibly fun. So I hope here that it's just a minor thing for Will Levis. He'll be able to play in the game. The Titans are off on Friday, so that's not anything they got to worry about him practicing or anything. He can fully rehab and then get out there on Saturday. And let's just say this too. It looks like Malik Willis is in the lead for quarterback two.

If Malik Willis wins outright quarterback two anyways, then Levis is not only going to play if Tannehill gets hurt, but then he necessarily wouldn't have to play until he either replaced Malik Willis or Willis got hurt. So, in my opinion, if it's not a major injury and something that'll compound, let Willis go out there and play. He needs to play. Next week, Tannehill should get some more reps. If Malik Willis is QB2, then he's going to get more reps than Levis anyways. So, I'm just saying, as long as he's not going to have any long-term impact, go ahead and throw Levis out there and let him play. If there's no future impact because these reps are so, so important for him that it's just hard to miss on the opportunity if you don't have to.

So obviously, if he's too hurt, then don't play. It's not even a question. But if it's on hurt, then don't play. It's not even a question, but if it's on the line, let him play. He's going to have time to rest and he needs these reps. So something to watch for with Will Levis being hurt, but it gives an incredible opportunity to Malik Willis. And we're going to talk about that in just a moment. Before we get into it though, do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. These days, every new potential hire can feel like a high stakes wager for your small business. You want to be 100% certain that you have access to the best qualified candidates available. That's why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find to check out LinkedIn jobs. LinkedIn jobs

helps you find the right people for your team faster and for free. All you got to do is create a free job post on LinkedIn jobs. You add your job and the purple hashtag hiring frame to your LinkedIn profile, and they're going to spread the word that you're hiring. They have simple tools like screening questions that help you focus on the candidates with just the right skills and experience so you can quickly prioritize who you'd like to interview and hire. It's why small businesses write LinkedIn Jobs number one in delivering quality hires versus leading competitors. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find qualified candidates you want to talk to faster.

Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions do apply. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We are recapping Tennessee Titans practice against the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday. The big storyline coming out of practice, will Levis hurt? Left practice early. How does this impact things going forward? I just talked about the Levis side of things. Now, I want to talk about

Malik Willis and how this could impact Malik Willis going forward because this would obviously be a big advantage for Malik going forward, but here's what I want to do. I just want to say that if Will Levis is hurt and that leads to Malik Willis winning the quarterback two job by default, I'm not going to take any credit away from Malik Willis. He's earned it. And I think at this stage in the offseason, and what we saw in the preseason game, and what we've seen in training camp,

and then what we're going to see from Malik on Saturday too, if all that goes together, I think it would be fair to say that Malik Willis was in the lead and probably going to win it anyways. Here is the reality. Malik Willis has been the biggest surprise of Tennessee Titans training camp. Now, you personally watching this show right now could say,

oh, I'm not surprised. I thought Malik was going to be great all along. Well, congratulations to you. But the reality is the Titans took a guy off the street and played him ahead of Malik Willis at the end of the season last year and then followed that up by trading up in the

second round to draft a new quarterback. Okay? I think Mike Rabel on Truth Serum would admit to you he is surprised by what Malik Willis has done and how much he's improved. I think that it's fair to ask the question,

and I might ponder this on an off day here soon, but I think it's fair to ask the question, if the Titans would have known that Malik Willis would have improved this much, would they have drafted Will Levis? Because I've watched the film. I watched the TV copy twice. I watched the film twice. Focused on Levis and Malik both times. And in my opinion, coming out of it, I didn't see a major difference. It didn't look like to me that Will Levis was that far ahead

of Malik Willis. And in my opinion, if the Titans would have known that, they probably wouldn't have traded for Will Levis. They wouldn't have given up a third round pick in 2024, along with their own second round pick, to move up and get Levis. They would not have done that if they knew that Malik was going to be where he's at right now. I mean, that's my honest, to God's truth, that's how I honestly feel. So, with that in mind, this is an incredible advantage and opportunity because one thing that people properly pointed out, and it was by design, it was by design,

is it was hard for the quarterbacks to gain any kind of rhythm. They're behind different offensive lines. They're thrown to different wide receivers. They're coming in and out every different, a couple of series here and there. It's hard to get a rhythm when you're a different offensive lines. They're thrown to different wide receivers. They're coming in and out every different, a couple of series here and there. It's hard to get a rhythm when you're a quarterback like that. And you know what? That's the truth.

And Mike Vrabel knew that. Mike Vrabel said it was by design because he knew that either of these quarterbacks, no matter who wins the backup quarterback job, whoever it is, is probably going to come in the game cold, with no chemistry, with no feel, not in a rhythm. They're a backup quarterback.

They're going to have to come off the bench in the middle of the game and be ready to go and play at a high level. Mike Rabel even said that. So that was by design. If there is no Will Levis in this game and Ryan Tannehill is not going to play in this game, then Malik does have a chance to get in a rhythm. And if he has a chance to get in a rhythm,

he could play even better than he played last week. And I thought he played better than Will Levis last week. So if he could play even better than that while getting in a rhythm, I mean, that gives Malik Willis the opportunity to play his best. And we got to talk about it again. We're recapping joint practices. I'll go back to Wednesday. Malik Willis was the best quarterback

on the field on Wednesday. That was a report that we literally saw on Thursday morning. I think it was A to Z Sports who tweeted that out. If I'm wrong, my apologies. But I thought that's what I saw this morning. So, if Malik Willis is balling in practice, and he gets full opportunity to gain his rhythm during the preseason game, and he already played better than Will Levis in one of the three preseason games,

and he's been ahead of him the entire time in training camp, preseason games, and he's been ahead of him the entire time in training camp, then, I mean, what else is there to say? Malik Willis will have deserved the spot that he got, and he'll have to prove it, too. So, this is a major advantage for Malik Willis, especially if this Will Levis thing goes into next week, into the next preseason game,

there's just no way in the world that Levis is going to be able to overtake and come from behind and overtake Willis. Just not going to happen. And I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing because Malik Willis is playing his best football. He's getting better. He's showing improvement. And at the end of the day,

all that really matters is that the Titans get their quarterback of the future is that the Titans get a good quarterback is that if Tannehill at 35 years old gets hurt someone who comes in is going to be able to win them games and to me Malik Willis has shown that he's taking steps towards

that and this opportunity on Saturday could be like a sledgehammer for Malik Willis to show yes yes, I am ready. I can play full games. I can go in there if Tannehill gets hurt. I am the backup quarterback on this team, and maybe, even maybe, I'm the quarterback of the future for this team. That would be interesting to see as well.

So although I did say that some of the preseason excitement fades if Will Levis is in the game, which I do believe. There's still a tremendously high amount of excitement for watching Malik Willis in this game if he's going to be able to play the whole game long. That'll be excellent to watch as well. So that's the latest news on the quarterbacks. That's my thoughts on how this could all play out.

But now I want to give some updates from actual training camp. Hopkins scored a touchdown. The Titans defense was good. We're going to dive into all that in just a moment. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, breaking down joint practices on Thursday between the Titans and the Vikings. We talked about Will Levis getting hurt and the impact it has on him. Then we talked about how that would impact Malik Willis and the Dominoes that kind of start falling there.

Now I want to give you guys some more general updates from practice, how the defense did, how the offense did, all that stuff. Before we get into it, do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on all apps, always for free.

Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. Shout out to my everydayers out there tuning in. Remember, tomorrow, preseason preview for the game on Saturday. Saturday, I'll be going live and have a show out on Saturday night to recap everything that happened there. Don't miss any of that. Throw a thumbs up if you're watching on the video right now as well.

Definitely does help out the channel. Show's always free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button. But with that being said, let's get into some of these practice notes here. The Tennessee Titans defense, according to Teron Davenport from ESPN, was excellent in red zone seven on seven at the beginning of practice. The Titans first team only allowed one touchdown. There was a pass breakup by Sean Murphy bunting. The second team defense even did good, according to Teron Davenport. Mike Brown, a guy that we've been talking about since the preseason game,

one of my big tighten up guys from the preseason game was Mike Brown at safety. He's played with physicality, coming downhill, hitting people. I joked with No Flags film. He does the A to Z film breakdowns. James Foster is his name, but we were joking about Brown on Twitter. He said that he thought that Brown was a linebacker

from watching him play football. And it's a joke, but it's just a nod to the physicality and how hard he's coming downhill. And that's something that we kind of talked about for a second. It was pretty funny. But Mike Brown making plays not only in the run game with his physicality, but some PBUs as well. Also, Teron Davenport said that Christian Fulton had a great practice.

We saw the highlight. The Minnesota fans who are tweeting out full videos of 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 and actual highlights of what's going on, shout out to those people. And again, I have been making the case for multiple summers now that the Titans being so restrictive from a media standpoint, not allowing videotape of full 7-on-7, 11, not allowing as many fans at practice, all it does is hurt their customers.

All it does is hurt their fans. The Vikings, the Chiefs, the Bengals, the Eagles, the Buccaneers, go on and on. Most NFL teams allow some sort of video, some things like that. The Titans don't. So shout out to the Minnesota accounts this week who were tweeting out real film videos of practice. It was a joy.

It was a joy to experience. But with that, we saw the one-handed Christian Fulton interception in the back of the end zone in seven on sevens on Kirk Cousins. Oh, man. It was an incredible. I tweeted it out at Tic Tac Titans. You can go check it out there on my Twitter account, but just an incredible one-handed catch from Christian Fulton on an interception in the back of the end zone. Teron Davenport said

that Fulton had sticky coverage on Justin Jefferson all day. Amani Hooker, I saw a Minnesota Vikings account, a Minnesota Vikings reporter, fansider, whatever you want to call it, a fanalist, which honestly is what I would probably call myself in an honest moment, so whatever. No shame in that,

but they were tweeting out videos and different practice highlights, and they even shouted out Amani Hooker, Minnesota's own. Amani Hooker said he was standing out, one-on-ones, two-on-twos, had a bunch of pass breakups. So the Vikings guy is shouting out Imani Hooker saying he had a good practice.

I think it was Teron Davenport as well. He said Chance Campbell had really great coverage at one time out in the flats. Tons of sacks on the day from videos from Vikings accounts. I saw Arden Key got blown up by Christian Derusaw on a spin attempt, though. But Key also had a big win. Vikings fans were calling it a touchdown, but it was clearly a sack. You can't tackle the quarterback in practice. Arden Key literally stopped on his rush before he hit Kirk Cousins

because you're not allowed to hit the quarterback. And he, like, jumped in the air being funny. And they threw the ball, and it went to the end zone. They acted like it was a touchdown. Whatever, either way. We'll see when the games really count, what happens on that play. Same thing. There was a pass.

Kirk Cousins threw to somebody and everybody was freaking out. But Jeffrey Simmons literally stopped right in front of, right on Kirk Cousins' face mask and just stopped and looked at him. And then the Vikings tried to act like it was a touchdown. And Simmons is like, I literally would have sacked you. What are you talking about? Anyways, that was a fun thing to go through during the day as the highlights were coming out. But Autry, according to on Davenport,

had a great pass rush bull rush on Christian Darasol. Elijah Molden sack. Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was a good day for the Titans defense. I will admit this, in the one-minute drill, where it's like you're down by a touchdown, you got to go down and score, starters versus starters, Minnesota's offense did go down and score in like five plays. So give them credit where credit's due.

But overall, on the two days, the Titans defense was absolutely fantastic. Again, Teron Davenport tweeted out, newsflasher, the Tennessee defense was absolutely fantastic. Again, Teron Davenport tweeted out newsflasher, the Tennessee Titans defense is good. So someone actually there on site is just impressed by the Titans defense. So good to hear that because the Titans defense is going to need to be dominant this year for them to be successful. Moving forward into the offense, Tannehill was sharp for a lot of this practice, had a touchdown pass in seven on seven to Chris Moore, Josh Wiley, Tajay Spears. Had a big catch, not for a touchdown,

but a big catch over the middle to Nick Westbrook-Akene who kind of snagged the ball right out of the air. Good for NWI. With Burks going down, it's going to be important for him to step up. We're going to talk about that on tomorrow's preview of the preseason game. Wide receivers who have the opportunity to step up going forward, not just

in the game, but going forward with Burks out. Mike Vrabel did call the injury best case scenario after practice on Thursday, so that's good. But on offense, in red zone, DeAndre Hopkins caught a sick touchdown pass on the sideline, celebrated the touchdown by punting the ball into the Vikings fan section. Love hearing that. Hopkins was good on the day. The Titans on their one-minute drive, down by six points,

got to go down and score ones-on-ones on offense. Tannehill, pass to NWI, pass to Spears. The Titans draw a DPI, pass to Phillips, pass to Hopkins, where he gets out of bounds with four seconds left. Four seconds left. The Titans have to score. Tannehill scrambles. Finds Chigakonkwo for a touchdown.

Technically would be a game winner based on the drill scenario. So you love to see that. You love to see that. Good stuff all around. I think based on kind of the overall reports from joint practice, both teams got theirs, but I think the Titans were more impressive overall. A lot of Vikings people were analyzing Wednesday's practice and saying the Titans brought a different level of physicality,

different level of tempo, different level of urgency to practice than the Vikings did. It's funny because some of the Titans reports were maybe a little bit negative, and then all the Vikings reports were negative as well. And a lot of people made this point, but I'll make it as well. If you come away from a deal and both people are unsatisfied, probably means it was a pretty good deal. Means the Titans had a good practice.

The Vikings had a good practice. They got what they needed to out of it. And now we look forward to the preseason game. So again, tomorrow, Friday night on YouTube, I'm going to be dropping my preview. It's going in the podcast feed as well. Don't worry, folks. And then Saturday after the game, I'll be here to break down everything that happened. That's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I'm your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.